Edge trimmer



L. H. KNEPSHIELD March 12, 1963 EDGE TRIMMER 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 30, 1960 L. H. KNEPSHIELD March 12, 1963 EDGE TRIMMER Filed Sept. 30, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.4

March 12, 1963 L. H. KNEPSHIELD EDGE TRIMMER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 30, 1960 3,080,783 Patented Mar. 12, 1963 3,080,783 EDGE TRIMMER Leroy H. Knepshield, North Apollo, Pa, assignor to Allegheny Lndlum Steel Corporation, Breckenridge, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 59,654 4 Claims. (Cl. 83-479) This invention relates to improvements in the cutting or trimming of the edges from metal strip during the continuous strip processing, and is particularly directed to a metal strip edge trimmer that is capable of very rapid change of edge trimming blades so as to minimize down time in continuous strip treatment mills.

In the manufacture of metal strip, the strip is conventionally cold rolled, annealed, pickled and surface treated in various separate and/or combined continuous processing steps in processing mills wherein the strip is uncoiled and travelled over and through a series of rolls and through the various processing treatment stations, and is subsequently recoiled for further handling and/or processing treatment. During such processing, and in spite of such specially designed devices, such as electronically controlled steering rolls and self-centering guide rolls, the strip frequently wanders from its pass line or predetermined path of travel through the mill in accordance with the design of the equipment being employed. Such processing equipment is generally provided with edge guides or rigid members as stops to prevent the strip from wandering from the pass line upon entering the processing mill, such as a cold rolling mill. The edge of the strip, however, is nearly always damaged to some degree and, consequently, is unsound either for subsequent processing or for use by the purchaser of the ultimate product. In addition, the nature of the equipment employed in producing metal strip usually efiects a gauge at the edge which is less than that of the overall strip. Consequently, whether or not the edge of the strip has been damaged, it is conventional practice to employ as a processing step in one of the continuous treatment processing lines, edge trimmers which shear a quantity of the strip from its edge in order to eliminate the defective edges.

Such shearing, or edge trimming is conventionally accomplished by means of edge trimmers which are apparatus which provide opposing disc shaped cutting edges to either side of the strip and which trim the edge of the strip as it passes between the trimming apparatus. The difficulty with such apparatus is that the blades frequently become dull and do not continue to effectively trim the metal strip, in which event it is necessary to shut down the mill in order to remove and replace the blades.

It will be appreciated that shutting down such a mill for any length of time is an expensive and highly undesirable eventuality from the standpoint of cost and volume of production from given equipment. Not only must men stand idle while the trimming blades are being replaced, but production schedules for the equipment itself fall drastically behind. It may also be appreciated that should the processing line involved include heat treatment furnaces, to stop the line to change the blade will cause quantities of the steel to remain in the heat zones for excessive amounts of time and consequently, destroy predetermined mechanical and physical properties of the metal being processed. On the other hand, if one permits the line to continue in operation in spite of the dull trimming blades, badly trimmed edges will result and many coils must be rejected on this basis.

An edge trimming apparatus has now been devised in accordance with the present invention, wherein the trimming heads may be replaced with previously prepared blades within extremely short periods of time to reduce,

if not eliminate, the amount of down time of a processing mill wherein edge trimmers are employed.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an edge trimming apparatus capable of blade changing in a minimum amount of time.

It is also the object of the present invention to provide an edge trimmer that possesses two cutting heads, either of which may be readily brought into a trimming relationsh-ip to metal strip in a processing line in a minimum amount of time. Other objects and advantageous features will be obvious from the following specification and the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, in elevation, of a mounted pair of spaced edge trimmers embodying the teachings of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view, in elevation, of the structure shown by FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view, in elevation, of one of the edge trimmers of the pair shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and includes a portion of the mounting and positioning mechanism employed in conjunction with the present apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged end view, in elevation and partly in section, of the edge trimmer shown in FIG. 3 as rotated FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view, in elevation with parts broken away and partly in section, of the edge trimmer of FIG. 3 and showing only one of the trimming heads and its associated apparatus;

FIG. 6 is an end view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating a typical clutch as employed in conjunction with drive sprockets of the edge trimmer of this invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the gear wheel engaging mecha nism employed in conjunction with one embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged end view, in elevation, of the stationary ring and the levers of the gear wheel engaging mechanism of FIG. 7.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pair of edge trimmers 10 and 12 (see in particular FIGS. 1 and 2) that are slidably mounted on rails 14 and 16 disposed on a bed 17, the edge trimmers 12 and 10 being disposed to be slidably adjusted in such rails longitudinally of the bed by adjustment propellent mechanisms 18 and 20, respectively. The mechanism as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is positioned in a continuous strip mill processing line (not shown) such as a normalizing and pickle line where the strip is unwound from a coil and is alternately heat treated and descaled and recoiled in a continuous manner. The apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2. is so positioned in respect to such continuous mill so that the strip passes between the oppositely disposed paired edge trimmers 10 and 12 in an equidistant manner so that the trimmers may be employed to remove the opposite edges of the strip in the manner hereinafter described. As shown in greater detail, particularly by FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, each of the edge trimmers 10 and 12 has two sets of trimming heads 22-22 and 26-26', respectively. Since the edge trimmers 1i) and 12 are identical in structure although positioned in reverse manner with respect to their drive mechanism and mounting on the bed 17, only trimmer 10 is illustrated in greater detail (FIGS. 3, 4 and 5).

Edge trimmer 1G is basically composed of a base member 30 and a rotatable housing 32. There is rigidly afiixed to the base-30 a trunnion 34 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Trunnion 34 may be an integral part of base 30, or, as in the present embodiment, can be Welded to the base 30 (welding not shown). Rotatable housing 32 is composed of three parts, 36, 38 and 40, that are rigidly attached to one another as by bolting, welding, etc.; however, the over-all housing 32 possesses a cylindrical passageway 42 that extends through all three parts 36, 38 and 40 (FIG. 4). There are formed in parts 40 and 36 of the housing 32 in conjunction with opening 42, openings of larger diameter 44 and 46, respectively, that are formed to receive roller bearing assemblies 48 and 50, respectively. Bearing cones 52 and 54 are rigidly attached to trunnion 34 adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof while bearing races 56 and 58, along with their associated roller bearings 60 and 62, respectively, are seated within openings 44 and 46, respectively, in an appropriate manner so that roller bearings 60 and 62 appropriately bear on races 56 and 58, respectively, and cones 52 and 54, respectively. Hence, the hous ng 32 is rotatably suspended on the vertically extending trunnion 34 above the base 30.

Trimming members 22 and 22' are composed of pposing circular shear or knife blades 64-66 and 6466, respectively (see FIGS. 3 and Blades 64 and 66 (see in particular FIG. 5) are disc shaped and possess a cylindrical perforation so that they may he slid over the threaded ends of shafts 68 and 70, respectively, and are maintained in operative relation thereon by retaining nuts 72 and 74, respectively. Washer shaped cylindrical spacers 76 and 78 conveniently and interchangeably provide a slight displacement of the blades 64 and 66 to provide an appropriate overlapping shearing edge 8!). Depressions 82 on nuts 72 and 74 are gripping depressions for receiving conventional adjustment wrenches (not shown) to tighten nuts 72 and 74.

It is to be noted that each of the trimming heads 22 and 22 has corresponding members mounted in a reverse relationship in regard to one another within and in conjunction with the housing 32 of edge trimmer so that trimming head 22 projects from one side of the housing 32 and trimming head 22 projects from the other side of the housing at opposite edges thereof. The components effecting head 22 are identified by number, while the components effecting head 22' are identified (where shown) by the identical number accompanied by the prime mark. It will be appreciated that where the drawings show a number with or without an accompanying prime mark identifying a part but such part is not identified in the specification, such part will be the corresponding member of the corresponding part described in the specification as it relates to the construction and operation of either of the trimming heads 22 or 22. Conversely, reference to a number with or without an accompanying prime mark in the specification, but not shown by the drawings, will be a reference to the corresponding part to the part actually shown as it relates to the construction and operation of either of the trimming heads 22 or 22.

Central part 38 of housing 32 is formed with two spaced pairs of spaced cylindrical openings 84-36 and 8486 (see FIG. 5). Openings 84 and 86 are located in a vertically spaced relationship to one another in one side of the housing 38 and corresponding vertically spaced openings 84' and 86f are located in the other side of the housing 38. The openings 84-86 and 8486 are positioned to receive rotatable shafts 92-94 and 92'94', respectively, therein, such shafts having off-center openings therein as will be hereinafter referred to. The shafts 92-94 and 92-94 are disposed to be rotated in opposing directions to one another since they are connected at one end thereof by integrally formed or attached and meshed gear wheels 96-98 and 96'98', respectively (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 5). These gear wheels 9698 and 96'98 are, in turn, rotated manually by means of manual turning wheels 100 and 100 respectively, each of which is connected through opposing meshed gears (a worm gear-shaft gear arrangement, not shown) to effect rotation of shafts 102 and 102, respectively, each such shaft being appropriately rotatably mounted on spaced bearing assemblies 04 s indicated in dotted outline in FIG. 5. Both of shafts 102 and 102 are mounted in a similar manner to that shown in FIG. 5 in which shaft 102 is illustrated as being rigidly attached to a drive gear 106 that is meshed to gear 96 carried by the hollow shaft 92. The over-all structure for manually effecting rotation of the hollow shafts 92 and 94 is supported in a housing 108 mounted adjacent the section 40 on the upper surface of section 38 of rotatable housing 32. It may be seen that rotation of wheel 160 will effect rotation of shaft 102, and consequently, gear 106 which, in turn, effects simultaneous but opposite rotation of the shafts 92 and 94.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the shaft 92 is provided with an off-center opening 109 for receiving shaft 68. Shaft 94 is also provided with a similar off-center opening (not shown) for receiving the shaft 70 therein so that shafts 6S and 70 are disposed eccentrically for rotation within the shafts 92 and 94, respectively. In order to provide for rotation of such shafts, each of shafts 68 and 70 is disposed to be carried by suitable roller bearing assemblies 112 that are disposed in enlarged portions of the openings 109 formed at the opposite ends of shafts 92 and 94. Shafts 68 and 70' are similarly mounted in off-center openings 109' provided in shafts 92' and 94 whereby rotation can be imparted to the knife blade assemblies 22 and 22', respectively.

It will be appreciated when a strip material is being pulled through the slitter .and between the knife blades 64 and 66, the shafts 68 and 70 will freely rotate on bearing assemblies 112. However, when it is desired to adjust the overlap or spacing between the knife blades 64 and 66 such may be effected by manual rotation of wheel 106 which, in turn, effects rotation of shaft 102 and gears 166, 96 and 98. Rotation of gears 98 and 96 effects rotation of shafts 92 and 94, and since shafts 68 and 70 are eccentrically mounted within shafts 92 and 94, shafts 63 and 70 will either be propelled vertically towards or away from one another and, consequently, knife blades 64 and 66 may be adjusted into and out of engagement with one another. Members 113, positioned within expanded portions 107 of opening 109, are retaining members for bearings 112.

In order to provide a positive drive for knife blades 64 and 66 and the blades 64' and 66, each of the shafts 68 and70 and 68' and 70' is provided with a clutch and driving means and 120, respectively. Each of the clutch and driving means 120 (and 120') carried by the upper and lower shafts 68 and 70 is formed of a clutch assembly 122 and 124, respectively, and paired spaced sprocket members, 126 and 128, respectively. Paired or double sprockets 126 and 128 are driven through a chain 131) (FIG. 4) that is, in turn, driven by an appropriate paired drive sprocket 132. The sprocket members 126, 128 and 132 are each composed of two or double sprocket wheels and the chain is a double chain (not shown) or is appropriately designed to drive both of the paired sprockets of the members 126, 128 and 132. The double or paired sprocket and drive chain design affords greater strength in the drive mechanism While retaining considerable flexibility in the drive chain. Drive sprocket 132 is driven by means of an integrally attached gear wheel 134 that may be engaged or disengaged, as will hereinafter be described, by a gear wheel 136 that is slidably mounted on a rotating shaft 138. The chain 130 is positioned oppositely on sprockets 126 and 128 to effect rotation of the shafts 68 and 70 in opposite directions.

A paired idler sprocket 140 (see FIG. 4) is mounted on housing 32 in a manner to minimize any slack on drive chain 130 such as may result from adjustment of the vertical position of shafts 68 and 70 by means of manual rotation of wheel 100 and caused by the eccentric mounting of these shafts within the shafts 92 and 94.

Such anti-slack means is accomplished by bolt-like member 142 that is pivotally mounted to the side of section 38 of housing 32 as at 145. Bolt member 142 passes through a perforation in a lever projection 144 and is retained thereon by a nut 146. Interposed between the housing 32 and lever 144 is a tension spring 148. Lever 144 is rigidly attached to or is formed as a part of sprocket mounting member 158 on which the idler sprocket 140 is rotatably mounted. The over-all assembly of lever 144 and mounting member 150 is pivotally attached to a mounting flange 152 as at 154. Mounting flange 152 is rigidly attached as by welding (not shown) to the side of section 38 of housing 32. It may be seen that the tension of spring 148 forces lever 144 outwardly and causes sprocket 140 to bring tension to bear on the drive chain 130 to eliminate any slack on the drive chain 130.

The sprockets 126 and 128 drive the shafts 68 and 70 and, consequently, effect a positive drive on the knife blades 64 and 66 when desired. Such positive drive is, of course, desirable when one is feeding lead strip through the line and there is no take-up reel or other driving power propelling the strip. However, once the strip has been connected to a positive power propelling source in the mill it is no longer desirable to continue the positive drive through the mechanism of clutch assemblies 122 and 124 to the knife blades 64 and 66.

The manner in which clutches 122 and 124- operate is illustrated by FIG. 6 of the drawing. The illustration shown in FIG. 6 has been randomly selected as the clutch 122; however, it is obvious that clutch 124 is similarly constructed. The over-all clutch is mounted on the shaft 68 and is composed of an inner bearing member 158 and an outer race 160. Shaft 68 is keyed to member 158 as shown at 159. Member 158 is formed with three spaced pocket-like slots '162 about the periphery thereof that are,

in turn, formed with two bearing surfaces 164 and 166.

The plane of surface 164 is substantially in the direction of the axis of the shaft 68 while the plane of surface 166 is directed substantially away from the axis of shaft 68. Cylindrical chambers 168 formed in member 158 com municate with slots 162 through bearing surfaces 164. Positioned within each of the slots 162 there is a ball bearing 178. Positioned within each of the cylindrical chambers 168 there is a spring 172 and plunger 174. Plunger 17 4 tends to bear on the bearings 17 0; however, if the bearings are a suflicient distance from the surfaces 164 they may not act to compress the springs 172. In operation when chain 136 is positively driving the clutch and driving means 120, and consequently, knife blades 64 and 66, race 16% is being rotated in the direction shown by arrow 178 in FIG. 6 and bearings 170, urged by springs 172 and plunger 174 as Well as the propelling action of the inside surface of race 160 against the surface of bearings 170, are propelled away from bearing surfaces 164 of slots 162 and become lodged in the more narrow part of slots 162 where they wedge between the surface of bearing surfaces 166 of slots 162 and the inner surface of race 16%). Such action causes the bearings 170 to wedge or bind and drive member 158 along with race 160 and, consequently, the shaft 68 is rotated along with the sprocket driven race 160. Once the positive drive imposed by drive chain 130 through paired sprocket 126 is discontinued and the strip is drawn through the knife blades 64 and 66 (as is normal after the strip has been threaded through the mill) the race 160 will no longer be propelled in the direction 178 but the bearing member 158 will be so propelled through the action of the strip causing rotation of knife blades 64 and 66 and, consequently, shafts 68 and 70. In this eventuality, bearings 170 will tend to roll on surface 166 of slots 162 towards plane or surface 164 due to the momentum of the now revolving member 158. Bearings 170 will now oppose and compress springs 172 and plunger 174 in chamber 168 and thus will be positioned in the larger area of slot 162 and will not bind or wedge between the surface 166 and race 160. As may be observed, in this eventuality race 160 and its rigidly attached drive sprocket 126 will not be made to rotate and 124'.

with member 158 and shaft 68, but will remain stationary until or unless a positive drive on these members is reapplied through drive chain 130.

It should be noted that drive chain 138' (FIG. 4) is threaded over paired sprocket 126 but passes over paired sprocket 128 in an opposing direction so that shafts 68 and 70' (and in a like manner shafts 68 and 70) will rotate in appropriately reverse directions and hence knife blade 64' and 66 will effect the shearing action on the strip, as at (FIG. 5), when the shafts 68 and 70' are positively driven through the action of drive chain sprockets 126 and 128' and the clutch mechanisms 122' It will also be appreciated that clutch 124 and 124), though substantially identical in construction to clutch 122 as illustrated in FIG. 6, is constructed in a reverse manner since the positive drive is in a reverse direction 178 (of FIG. 6) and the disengagement of the clutch mechanism is required when the positive drive is eliminated and the strip is pulled through the shearing means.

Drive chain 130 is driven by the action of drive sprocket 132 which is in turn driven by the action of a gear wheel 134 to which sprocket 132 is rigidly attached. Gear wheel 134 and drive sprocket 132 are rotatably mounted on a shaft 182 (FIG. 5) that is rigidly attached, as by welding, to section 40 of housing 32. These members (wheel 134 and sprocket 132) are mounted on bearings (not shown) and rotate on the shaft 182 as idlers in that the rotation per se performs no function other than to transmit the drive power from rotating shaft 138 to drive chain 138. Gear wheel 134 is driven by gear wheel 136 which is mounted on and is keyed to shaft 138 as shown at 186 (see FIG. 4).

Shaft 138 revolves due to torque applied by conventional power means (not shown). In the present embodiment such rotation is supplied by an electric motor (not shown) that effects rotation of a shaft 188 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Rotation of shaft 188 is transmitted to shaft 138 through appropriate gear reducing apparatus such as is indicated generally at 190. The shaft 192 emerging from gear reducer 1% is coupled to the shaft 138 by means of conventional and well-known coupling means such as is shown generally at 194. means of providing rotating power to the shaft 138 is entirely optional and conventional apparatus to effect this means are well known and will not be the subject of detailed description in the present specification.

Since shaft 138 serves as a source of propelling force to both of the shearing units 10 and 12 it must be prohibitively long and, consequently, in the present embodiment is provided with a supporting member 196 (FIG. 2). Supporting member 196 is provided with a connecting cylinder 198 through which shaft 138 appropriately passes. Cylinder 198 is appropriately fitted wtih bushings 266 and is appropriately supported by a table comprising a base 2 .12 and upwardly extending supporting webs 264.

The shaft 138 is formed with extending longitudinal slots 286 (FIGS. 2 and 3) that terminate or are discontinuous where the shaft passes through the supporting cylinder 1% or where the shaft is joined to the gear reducer at 194 but which is continuous where the shaft passes through and beyond the edge trimmers 10 and 12. In FIG. 5 it is shown that the shaft 138 projects through openings 268 of the base 36 of edge trimmer 1t). Positioned within the openings 288 of base 36 are two flanged collars 216 and 212. Shaft 138 projects through the collars 210 and 212 and also a spacing cylinder or keeper 214. Collars 216 and 212 and spacer 214 are each provided with rectangular keys 216 designed to fit into the slot 206 of shaft 138 and are rigidly attached as by welding to each of collars 210 and 212 and to spacer 214 partially Within slots 211 formed in each of these members so that each of these members will be keyed to the shaft 138 and will rotate with it; however, keys 216 are not welded or rigidly attached to shaft 138 so that the collars 216 and 212 and spacer 214 are slidably mounted on shaft It will be appreciated that the.

138. Openings 208 and collars 210 and 212 are provided with appropriate bushings 218 (FIG. to minimize friction and appropriate bearings discs 226 are provided which separate collars 210 and 212 from spacer 214 and collar 212 from gear wheel 136.

Gear wheel 136 is slidably mounted on shaft 133 and may be slid therealong into and out of meshing contact with gear wheel 134, as is shown particularly in FIGS 5 and 7. Gear wheel 136 is formed with an extending projection 136a. The wheel 136 is keyed to the shaft 138 through a key 217 which, in the present embodiment, is shown to be welded into a slot 222 formed in the gear wheel 136 and its extending projection 136a and which projects into the slot 206 of shaft 138. Hence gear wheel 136 and its extension 136a are keyed to and rotate with the rotating shaft 138. Key 217 will slide longitudinally within the slot 206 and, consequently, gear wheel 136, including extension 136a, is capable of sliding along the rotating shaft 138 so that gear wheel 136 may be thrown into and out of a mesh relationship with gear Wheel 134. Extension 136:: of gear wheel 136 is formed with a groove 224 in the circumference thereof. Positioned within groove 224 is a ring 226. Ring 226 is provided with two lugs 228 and 229 extending outwardly from diametrically opposite sides thereof.

Lugs 228 and 223 ride in slots 230 and 231 of levers 232 and 233, respectively. Levers 232 and 233 are pivotally attached to a base member 234 as at 236 (FIGS. 4, 5 and 7). Supporting members 238 and 240 are welded to the base member 234 so as to provide a base for pivotally mounting levers 232 and 233 on pivot 236. It may be seen that ring 226 does not rotate with gear wheel 136 or its extension 136a, but remains stationary and provides bearing surfaces to the groove 224. When the levers 232 and 233 are pivotally (manually) propelled in the direction 244 (see FIG. 7) the gear wheel 136 slides along shaft 138 in the direction 244 and the lugs 228 and 229 are free to move within the slots 230 and 231 of levers 232 and 233. In this event, gear wheel 136 becomes detached or unmeshed with gear wheel 134. It is to be noted that lever 232 is formed with an extension 232a that is provided with a perforation 246. A supporting flange 243 (see FIG. 8) is attached to the base 30 and is also provided with a perforation 250 so that when the levers 231 and 232 are projected in a horizontal direction in reverse of direction 244 so that the gear wheel 136 has been slid into a meshing relationship with gear wheel 134, perforation 246 is adjacent to perforation 250 and a locking pin 252 (FIGS. 4 and 8) may be employed to lock the lever 231 in position and hence lock gear wheel 136 in its meshed relationship with gear wheel 134.

It has been heretofore shown that the housing 32 is rotatably mounted on the base 30 through trunnion 34 and bearing assemblies 48 and 50 and, consequently, trimming head 22 may be rotated from a cutting position in relationship to the pass line of the strip to permit a new trimming head 22 to be swung into position for use on the strip pass line. It has also been shown that the power means for driving the knife blades 64 and 66 of shearing head 22 may be disengaged by removing pin 252 and sliding gear wheel 136 horizontally on shaft 138 so that it no longer meshes with gear wheel 134. There is also a locking means 260 (FIG. 4) that is provided to lock the rotatable housing 32 into a predetermined and fixed position so that the respective cutting heads 22 and 22 may be correctly positioned in respect to the strip pass line. Locking means 260 is composed of two sets of projections 262, 264, 262 and 264 (FIG. 2) rigidly affixed, as by welding etc., to opposing sides of the section 36 of rotatable housing 32. There is formed in the fixed base 30 a single pipe-shaped receptacle 266 (see FIG. 4) the ID. of which is somewhat less than the distance between the projections 262 and 264 or the identical corresponding distance between the flanges 262' and 264'. Projections 262264 and 262-264 are positioned on section 36 of housing 32 so as to be positioned directly above receptacle 266 when the housing 32 is rotated substantially to a position wherein one or the other of heads 22 or 22, respectively, is positioned adjacent the strip pass line for utilization. Each of the projections 262, 264, 262' and 264 is provided with threaded perforations that receive adjustment bolts 268, 270, 268' and 270' (see FIG. 2). When one or the other of the desired edge trimmer heads 22 or 22 is in position for trimming the strip of the pass line one or the other of the paired projections 262-264 or 262 264' will be positioned over the receptacle 266. A key bolt 272 (FIGS. 2 and 4) is then projected between the appropriate set of such projections and adjustment bolts and into receptacle 266. Such key bolt 272 locks the rotatable housing to the fixed or stationary base 33 so that the desired trimming head is positioned for utilization. Bolts 268270 and 268' 270 may be adjusted so as to more accurately and rigidly position the appropriate head 22 or 22 in respect to the pass line.

From the foregoing, it may be observed that when the knife blades 64 and 66 become dull or out of adjustment it is not necessary to await repair and adjustment of the head 22 and, consequently, suffer excessive down-time in the mill. Gear wheel 136 may be disengaged from gear wheel 134 by removing locking pin 252 and pivotally moving levers 232 and 233 in the direction 244 and hence sliding gear wheel 136 out of meshing contact with gear wheel 134. Key bolt 272 is then removed from receptacle 266 and from between projections 262 and 264 (and bolts 260 and 270). The entire rotatable housing 32 may then be rotated so that trimming head 22 which has previously been prepared for trimming is in position for utilization on the strip pass line. While in this position, projections 262' and 264 are over the receptacle 266 and the key bolt is now projected between projections 262 and 264' to lock the housing 32 in its new position. Levers 232 and 233 are now pivotally propelled to slide gear 136 into meshed relationship with gear wheel 134' and the edge trimmer is now in position to operate with the trimmer head 22' possessing identical driving and clutch parts as have been described in conjunction with head 22. It also may be observed from FIGS. 1 and 2 that edge trimmer 12 is of substantially identical construction with trimmer 10 except the parts are reversed so that the active head 26 or 26' is facing the other side of the pass line to effect trimming of both sides of the strip progressing through the pass line.

The two edge trimmers 10 and 12 are each mounted on a sled 274 and 276 (FIGS. 1 and 3). The sleds 274 and 276 are of substantially identical construction so that only sled 274 will be described in detail. The sled 274 is composed of a base plate 234 (FIGS. 4 and 5) upon which the nonrotatable or stationary housing 30 is mounted. The base plate 234 is disposed to slide or ride along rails 14 and 16 which are provided with appropriate bushing members 284 and 286 (FIG. 4). The rails 14 and 16 are supported by appropriate supporting members 288, 290, 292 and 294 that form box-like structures that provide a well 296 in which appropriate propelling mechanisms are located. The base plate 234 is also provided with retaining flanges 298 and 300 that are bolted to rails 14 and 16 as shown at 302 and 304. Attached to the base plate 234 and projecting downwardly into well 296' are two flange members 306 and 308. Flange members 306 and 308 project downwardly on either side of a shaft 310. Similar such members project downwardly from base plate 279 of sled 276, but these flanges are positioned to project on either side of shaft 312, otherwise the structure is identical. Positioned as spanning the flanges are members 314 and 316 (FIG. 5) that are rigidly attached to both flanges 306 and 308. The shafts 310 and 312 are threaded, as shown, and threaded to the shaft 310 and positioned between the cross members 314 and 316 is a floating box-shaped not 318 (FIG. 5). It may be easily observed that rotation of shaft 310 will effect travel of nut 318 and hence will cause the nut to bear on the spanning members 314 or 9 316 of sled 274 to cause the sled and, consequently, the over-all edge trimmer 10 to be propelled in accordance with the direction of rotation of the shaft 310 and the pitch of the threads thereon. It is readily observed that the sled 276 is similarly propelled along with the edge trimmer 12 in accordance with the rotation of shaft 312.

Shaft 310 is mounted in an appropriate mounting bracket 320 (FIG. 2) that is bolted to supporting bed 293 and which serves as support for one end of each of shafts 310 and 312. The shaft 31f is supported near the center of the pass line by an appropriate supporting member 322 that is flanged and bolted to the bed 293 as shown at 324 (FIG. 2) and a cylindrical receptacle 326 containing an appropriate bearing surface (not shown). The shaft 310 is also provided with a hand wheel 328 that serves for manually revolving the shaft 310 and, consequently, positioning the edge trimmer 10.

The shaft 312 is, of course, much longer than shaft 310 since it must extend for a considerably farther distance to project through and propel the sled 276 and, consequently, the edge trimmer 12. A supporting member (not shown) substantially identical to supporting member 322 is provided near the center of bed 293 for the purpose of supporting the shaft 312. The shaft 312 is also provided with a hand wheel 332 for manually revolving the shaft 312 and, consequently, positioning the edge trimmer 12.

The above described embodiment i given to illustrate the apparatus of the present invention, and the specification and claims should not be limited thereto. It is, of course, understood that though the edge trimmers of the present invention would generally be employed in pairs for trimming either side of the strip, the invention should not be limited to such paired apparatus since one such trimmer could be employed effectively where desired.

I claim:

1. A metal strip edge trimmer for shearing an edge of metal strip comprising, a base, a vertically extending trunnion carried by said base, a housing disposed over and rotatably mounted on said trunnion, means for locking said housing against rotatable movement when the housing is in one of two predetermined positions, two spaced sets of metal trimming apparatus carried by said housing, each set comprising a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed shafts rotatably mounted through said housing, cutting means carried at one end of each of said shafts to be rotated thereby, said cutting means of each said shaft being disposed at the same end of its respective shaft as the cutting means of the other shaft of said paired shafts the cutting means carried by said sets being disposed adjacent opposite sides of said housing to selectively receive an edge of said strip in a cutting relation, when the housing is in one of said predetermined positions, clutch means carried on the other end of each of said shafts, power drive means disposed to be selectively connected to the clutch means of each set of metal trimming apparatus to simultaneously drive the pair of shafts of the selected set in opposite directions to effectively rotate the cutting means carried thereby in opposite directions,

from said power drive means when the cutting means of said shafts are driven above a predetermined speed by movement of said strip therebetween, means disposed to disengage said power drive means from said clutch means of one set to permit rotation of said housing from one to the other of its said predetermined positions when the locking means is disengaged to thereby interchange the cutting means positioned relative to said strip.

2. A metal strip edge trimmer for shearing an edge of metal strip comprising, a base, a vertically extending trunnion carried by said base, a housing disposed over and rotatably mounted on said trunnion, means for locking said housing against rotatable movement when the housing is in one of two predetermined positions, two spaced sets of metal trimming apparatus carried by said housing, each set comprising a pair of vertically spaced horizontally dissaid clutch means being effective to disconnect said shafts posed shafts rotatably mounted through said housing, cutting means carried at one end of each of said shafts to be rotated thereby, said cutting means of each said shaft being disposed at the same end of its respective shaft as the cutting means of the other shaft of said paired shafts and said cutting means of each said paired shafts being disposed to cooperate in cutting metal strip passing therebetween the cutting means carried by said sets being disposed adjacent opposite sides of said housing to selectively receive an edge of said strip in a cutting relation, when the housing is in one of said predetermined positions, means for effecting displacement of the shafts of each pair relative to one another to control the positioning of the cutting means carried thereby relative to one another, and with respect to said strip, clutch means carried on the other end of each of said shafts, power drive means disposed to be selectively connected to the clutch means of each set of metal trimming apparatus to simultaneously drive the pair of shafts of the selected set in opposite directions to effectively rotate the cutting means carried thereby in opposite directions, said clutch means being effective to disconnect said shafts from said power drive means when the cutting means of said shafts are driven above a predetermined speed by movement of said strip therebetween, means disposed to disengage said power drive means from said clutch means of one set to permit rotation of said housing from one to the other of its said predetermined positions when the locking means is disengaged to thereby interchange the cutting means positioned relative to said strip.

3. A metal strip edge trimmer for shearing an edge of metal strip comprising, a base, a vertically extending trunnion carried by said base, a housing disposed over and rotatably mounted on said trunnion, means for locking said housing against rotatable movement when the housing is in one of two predetermined positions, two spaced sets of metal trimming apparatus carried by said housing, each set comprising a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed shafts rotatably mounted through said housing, a disc shaped knife blade mounted at one end of each of said shafts to be rotated thereby, said knife blade of each said shaft being disposed at the same end of its respective shaft as the knife blade of the other shaft of said paired shafts and said knife blades of each said paired shafts being disposed to cooperate in cutting metal strip passing therebetween said knife blades carried by said sets being disposed adjacent opposite sides of said housing to selectively receive an edge of said strip in a cutting relation, when the housing is in one of said predetermined positions, means for effecting displacement of the shafts of each pair relative to one another to control the positioning of the knife blades carried thereby relative to one another, and with respect to said strip, clutch means carried on the other end of each of said shafts, power drive means disposed to be selectively connected to the clutch means of each set of metal trimming apparatus to simultaneously drive the pair of shafts of the selected set in opposite directions to effectively rotate the knife blades carried thereby in opposite directions, said clutch means being effective to disconnect said shafts from said power drive means when the knife blades of said shafts are driven above a predetermined speed by movement of said strip therebetween, means disposed to disengage said power drive means from said clutch means of one set to permit rotation of said housing from one to the other of its said predetermined positions when the locking means is disengaged to thereby interchange the knife blades positioned relative to said strip.

4. A metal strip edge trimmer for shearing an edge of metal strip comprising, a bed member, a base slidably mounted on said bed member, means for effecting slidable movement of said base on said bed member relative to said strip, a vertically extending trunnion carried by said base, a housing disposed over and rotatably mounted on said trunnion, means for locking said housing against rotatable movement when the housing is in one of two predetermined positions, two spaced sets of metal trimming apparatus carried by said housing, each set comprising a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed shafts rotatably mounted through said housing, cutting means carried at one end of each of said shafts to be rotated thereby, said cutting means of each said shaft being disposed at the same end of its respective shaft as the cutting means of the other shaft of said paired shafts and said cutting means of each said paired shafts being disposed to cooperate in cutting metal strip passing therebetween the cutting means carried by said sets being disposed adjacent opposite sides of said housing to selectively receive an edge of said strip in a cutting relation, when the housing is in one of said predetermined positions, means for effecting displacement of the shafts of each pair relative to one another to control the positioning of the cutting means carried thereby relative to one another, and with respect to said strip, clutch means carried on the other end of each of said shafts, power drive means disposed to be selectively connected to the clutch means of each set of metal trimming apparatus to simultaneously drive the pair of shafts of the selected set in opposite directions to effectively rotate the cutting means carried thereby in opposite directions, said clutch means being effective to disconnect said shafts from said power drive means when the cutting means of said shafts are driven above a predetermined speed by movement of said strip therebetween, means disposed to disengage said power drive means from said clutch means of one set to permit rotation of said housing from one to the other of its said predetermined positions when the locking means is disengaged to thereby interchange the cutting means positioned relative to said strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 416,829 Crosby Dec. 10, 1889 823,797 Lupton June 19, 1906 1,462,138 Langston July 17, 1923 2,393,586 Brucker Jan. 29, 1946 2,546,221 Funk Mar. 27, 1951 

1. A METAL STRIP EDGE TRIMMER FOR SHEARING AN EDGE OF METAL STRIP COMPRISING, A BASE, A VERTICALLY EXTENDING TRUNNION CARRIED BY SAID BASE, A HOUSING DISPOSED OVER AND ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID TRUNNION, MEANS FOR LOCKING SAID HOUSING AGAINST ROTATABLE MOVEMENT WHEN THE HOUSING IS IN ONE OF TWO PREDETERMINED POSITIONS, TWO SPACED SETS OF METAL TRIMMING APPARATUS CARRIED BY SAID HOUSING, EACH SET COMPRISING A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED SHAFTS ROTATABLY MOUNTED THROUGH SAID HOUSING, CUTTING MEANS CARRIED AT ONE END OF EACH OF SAID SHAFTS TO BE ROTATED THEREBY, SAID CUTTING MEANS OF EACH SAID SHAFT BEING DISPOSED AT THE SAME END OF ITS RESPECTIVE SHAFT AS THE CUTTING MEANS OF THE OTHER SHAFT OF SAID PAIRED SHAFTS THE CUTTING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SETS BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID HOUSING TO SELECTIVELY RECEIVE AN EDGE OF SAID STRIP IN A CUTTING RELATION, WHEN THE HOUSING IS IN ONE OF SAID PREDETERMINED POSITIONS, CLUTCH MEANS CARRIED ON THE OTHER END OF EACH OF SAID SHAFTS, POWER DRIVE MEANS DISPOSED TO BE SELECTIVELY CON- 